The night deepened and the party continued. Jongup and Daehyun were joined by Xiumin and Chen on the long table, picking every food they see. Himchan and Chanyeol went inside the house to watch the kids. You and the husbands were in the middle of the dance floor, laughing over Kris, the dancing machine. Seri and her boys were also in a corner table, flirting and ogling with each other.

On the farther side, Sehun was with Lay, sitting on a vacant table, talking over a glass of bubble tea. “Bro, how’s Yeonjae by the way?”

“She’s doing great!” maknae smiled. “She’s spending most of her time touring the city and she would sometimes ask me to go with her…”

“And?” Lay questioned.

“I go with her, of course!” Sehun smirked.

“Aaanndddd?” the healer further added.

“Hyung… Are you going somewhere with this?”

Lay took a sip and crossed his arms on the table after lowering his drink. “Bro! You are so easy to read like the A-B-C’s… You’re confused, aren’t you?”

Sehun heaved a disturbed sigh. “I dunno… I guess…”

“Be honest with me a’right? Is it gonna be Yeonjae or Jiwon?”

“Hyung! You can’t make me choose!”

Lay firmly placed a hand on his shoulder. “Look man! You’ll have to choose either way! I’m trying to making it easy for you.”

“It’s never easy!” he slammed his fist. “I mean, I have feelings for Yeonjae. She’s the most beautiful person I know both inside and out! She takes care of me like no one can! She makes me feel the most important person on Earth!”

Jiwon placed a hand over when a tiny gasp escaped her lips. She was standing behind a door on her way out and every word left a hole in her heart. Even when her mind says not to eavesdrop, her foot never intended to leave. It hurts a lot. She lost her reasons for being in the world and everything seemed worthless. Her chest tightened, and her knees threatened to drop.

Instead, she turned as if nothing happened.

“…and I have feelings for Jiwon too! I care for her! I would do everything for her! I vowed to make life easier for her! I want her to be happy!” he said. “…and I think I can do that for her! Ani! I will do that for her!”

“What’s stopping you then?” Lay asked.

“I think she hates me…” he mellowed.

“What makes you think that? She likes you so much that she even had to stalk you, remember?” they chuckled.

“Coz I was mean to her at first... Then I noticed that she’s been avoiding me since then.”

Lay lazily leaned against the backrest, arms crossing on his chest. “Bro… You’re just making assumptions. Why don’t you talk to her?”

“I can’t…”

“What do you mean you can’t? Tch! Grow some balls, will ya!”

Lay continued giving their maknae words of advice. He may not be the expert but he’s the most sensible among the hyungs.

------------

You were still on the dance floor when Tao switched the music for a slower tempo. He went to take Seri’s hand while Yongguk went to you.

Jiwon was sitting on the other side, still can’t get over with what she heard. ‘It’s better giving up now while you can, Im Jiwon. Don’t force yourself to someone who doesn’t even wanna be near you…’ she moped, placing her elbows on the table, pressing her cheeks on her knuckles.

A smooth hand showed up in front of her, followed by a pleading voice. “May I have this dance?”